A WOMEN has died in a collision in the early hours of this morning (December 18), near Shaftesbury.

The incident took place at around 12.40am on the B3091, near to the junction with Cole’s Lane. 

Now, police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

The vehicles involved were a red Vauxhall Corsa, a blue Vauxhall Astra and a blue Citroen Berlingo.

Emergency services attended the scene and the driver of the Astra – a woman in her 40s from Sturminster Newton – was pronounced dead at the scene. Her family has been informed.

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The driver of the red Corsa – a woman in her 20s – received treatment for injuries that were not believed to be serious.

Road closures were put in place as the emergency services responded to the incident and for an examination of the scene to take place.

Sergeant Mark Scammell, of the Dorset Police traffic unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the family of the woman who sadly died in this collision, and we are carrying out enquiries to establish the full circumstances of what happened.

“I would urge any witnesses, or anyone with relevant dashcam footage, who has not already spoken to police to please get in touch with us to assist our investigation.

“I would also like to thank members of the public for their patience and understanding during the closures.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at dorset.police.uk/contact, via email at scit@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 18:14. 

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling freephone 0800 555 111.